In Progress
by arwen2117
Summary: Sara, finally giving up on Grissom, seeks the companionship of another CSI. Namely Greg Sanders. With very different personalities and work ethics, will these two be yin and yang or oil and water?
1. Chapter 1

Title: …In Progress

Summary: Sara, finally giving up on Grissom, seeks the companionship of another CSI. Namely Greg Sanders. With very different personalities and work ethics, will these two be yin and yang or oil and water?

Rating: T: language and romantic situations, but nothing that wouldn't be on the show

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights, privileges, or any characters of CSI. I am not profiting in any way shape or form from the use of such characters. But it would be nice if I did own them.

A/N: This is my first CSI fic, but not my first fic in general. Feedback is always encouraged, but I ask that you try to constructive if at all possible, telling me "I suck" isn't going to make the story better.

It was the sound of his phone, rather than his beeper that woke Greg Sanders out of a dead sleep. Confused, he reached for the receiver. Had it been a call from the lab, his pager would have sounded, not the phone. And besides the fact, it was his day off today.

"Hello?" Greg answered, groggily, still trying to become fully cognitive.

"Greg? I'm sorry did I wake you? I thought since you just got off shift that you would be awake," the female voice responded, sounding genuinely remorseful.

Greg's ears perked up when he recognized the voice as Sara Sidle's. It was no lab secret that Greg had harbored a crush for the brooding CSI since her transfer to Las Vegas. But it was also a well known secret that Sara has a serious thing for the night shift supervisor and her boss, Gil Grissom. So Greg had resigned himself to adoring her from afar, and settled for her friendship rather than her love.

"Normally, I would have been, but I have been pulling doubles and a even a few triples over the past few months, I'm completely beat. But since you have already torn my away from my dream involving Britney Spears and a vat of Jello, you might as well tell me why you call."

"Okay, Greg, one, too much information about your REM activities, and two, you've got to get out of this teeny bopper phase because it is starting to border on creepy. But the real reason I was calling was to invite you to lunch. We haven't gotten together much since you were made a field agent, I thought I could buy you a burger and we could catch up on what's going on in each other lives. But since you're so tired, we can just do it some other time."

She said that last bit with atone that she knew that even if Greg had a bleeding head wound, he still wouldn't turn the invite.

"No, no, it's okay. I'll sleep when I'm dead. When did ya want to meet?"

"About 3 hours at the diner. That will give you enough time to finish things up with Britney. Wouldn't want to impose on a previous engagement."

And with that, she hung up the phone and Greg placed the receiver back down confused at the conversation that had just occurred. Sara and him had never gotten together for lunch, whether he had been a field agent or a lab tech. In fact, she had been pretty adamant at shooting down any invitation he had offered. Even though he was still pretty green in field, he knew that there was a hidden agenda. His dream now far from his mind, Greg lied in bed for a while just staring at his ceiling and finally he rolled out and headed for the shower to get ready for his lunch date.

Sara had been waiting for close to twenty minutes outside the diner in the Vegas heat. And that didn't even include the 15 minutes she had arrived late knowing Greg's inability to show up anywhere on time. Just as she pulled out her phone to leave him an irate message for standing her up, Greg's SUV sped into the parking lot at a breakneck speed. She smiled as she saw the young man come running up to her, his normally impeccably spiked gelled hair, was windblown and looked to Sara as if it is was still wet.

"You're late. And what is going on with your hair?"

"I fell asleep in the shower," Greg responded.

Sara stifled her laughter.

"Well, that explains the hair, but you still shouldn't have been 35 minutes late because you fell asleep in the shower. So what else happened? Cold feet?"

Greg threw her a look that could have kill a stampede of rhinos dead in its tracks.

"Let's just say that it's a good thing I've been pulling so many doubles because this month's water bill is going to be astronomical."

Sara could stop the laughter this time.

"I'm serious Sara. I could have drowned."

Sara managed to compose herself.

"I'm sorry, Greg. Let's go inside and I'll buy you some lunch to ease your pain."

They walked into the familiar greasy spoon and took a booth towards the back to avoid any colleagues that might come in from day shift. Not even needing to look at a menu, Sara ordered a Greek salad and a iced tea and Greg a bacon cheeseburger and a Coke.

"Still doing that whole vegetarian thing? Don't you think it is about time that you gave it up and joined us on the dark side," Greg said, leaning for emphasis.

Sara leaned in as well.

"When you have seen a pig decomp in the Vegas air, see how much you want that bacon."

"Fair enough. So why exactly did you invite me to lunch?"

"Just to catch up outside of work."

"Oh come on Sara, we're both friends here and I have asked you out probably 50 times and every time it has been a "no" or a none answer. Now we are sitting just the of two of us. What gives?"

Sara's face seemed to drain of some of its color. She had been hoping to ease into the purpose of their meeting, but she should have counted on Greg to cut through all the bullshit and get to the heart of the matter. She swallowed hard and opened her mouth to explain.

"Well, Greg, as you probably know I kind of had a little crush on Grissom," she stammered, looking up only at the end of her statement.

Greg feigned shock and surprise and Sara frowned at his reaction.

"You're not making this any easier, Greg!"

"Sorry," he composed himself, "Continue."

"Well, he has made it perfectly that nothing will ever happen. And after the Hank fiasco, I wasn't really looking for a relationship with anyone else. But with everything going on lately, Nick getting buried alive and well, the job in general, I decided that I can't continue to let life pass me by."

Greg's eyes got real wide as the words that Sara had just spoken sunk in. She was actually considering a relationship. With him. He had played this moment in his mind and dreams probably a hundred times. And every time, he always had the perfect line that let Sara know that he was more than up for the prospect. But in reality, no such line came to him, instead he stammered something that sounded like gibberish.

"Why me? I mean, why not Nick. He's the big strapping cowboy that has faced down death more than once. Or one of the lab techs, like Archie. I'm not an easy guy to be with. I have eccentric habits and I'm not the cleanest guy in the world. And I'm forgetful. I'll probably never remember your birthday or…"

Sara leaned forward to put one hand over Greg's mouth to stop the babbling and the other to grab his shirtfront to pull him closer.

"Because you asked first," she said with a smile.

Sara then leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Greg's lips and when he finally realized what was happening he returned it. It only lasted a moment and then the two of them separated. Much more coherent at this point, Greg started the conversation up again as their food arrived.

"So what now?" he said with a smile that Sara returned.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A Plan

A/N: I know to some the relationship seems a little weird. All of sudden, Sara forgets about Grissom and goes after Greg. Never would happen, right. But trust me, in the next few chapters all should become clear, I promise.

"What do mean, so what now? I thought I made my intentions clear," Sara asked confused.

"You did but there are questions that still need to be answered, such as do we tell the guys at the lab?"

"Ah, yes. That is a good question. I would say "no". I wouldn't want this to be under the office microscope before it has even got off the ground."

"I would agree. No need to become water cooler fodder. Then I just have one more question."

"Which is?"

"When is our next date?"

Sara smiled at the last comment. She could tell that Greg was just as excited as her at the possibility of a new relationship.

"Well, when is your next day off?"

"Thursday. You?"

"Friday, but I'll see if I can get Warrick to switch with me."

"Okay, how about dinner and a movie?"

"Sounds like a date."

The two of them finished up their meal in relative silence and paid the bill. Once in the parking lot, Greg leaned in and kissed Sara's lips; she immediately responded by deepening the kiss. They finally broke apart.

"I could get used to that," Greg said, smiling back at Sara.

"You better," Sara responded, giving him a playful hit before heading to her car.

Greg drove himself back home, too wound up from the day's events to even consider sleeping. But there was still a nagging thought at the back of his mind. It had all been too easy. Sara had been holding out for Grissom for years and suddenly she flips and decides to go out with him. Something just didn't seem right. But he wasn't about to let this opportunity slip by because he was a little unsure. But he was still going to take things slow.

"Hey Greggo, how was the day off?" Nick asked the next day as he strolled into the locker room and saw the young CSI sitting down on one of the benches.

Greg turned to respond and Nick noticed the dark circles under Greg's eyes.

"Hey man, I thought you were going to catch up on your sleep yesterday. You look like hell. What happened?"

"I was unavoidably detained from my bed."

"Hot date?"

"Lunch with an old friend."

"How'd it go?"

"Better than expected."

"Well, it's good to see you starting to have a life outside of work again. You were getting a little too wrapped up in the field work lately."

"Thanks, Nick."

The two guys got up and headed towards the break room where Grissom would inevitably be ready to hand out assignment. The rest of the team was already in the room, Catherine was seated at the table, thumbing through the entertainment section of the paper. Warrick was hunched over the fridge, scrounging for something to eat before the shift started. Sara was sitting back in one of the chairs, reading a medical journal. And Grissom was just strolling in carrying a small stack of files.

"Okay, busy night guys, so some of you are flying solo tonight."

The group grumbled audibly. While working a scene solo is rare and welcomed, it also usually meant more work and more heat if something went wrong.

"Warrick, suspicious circs out in Henderson. Father found his son bleeding out on the front lawn. Here's the address," Grissom said as he handed Warrick on the file on top.

"Great. Prints on grass are impossible," Warrick said as he headed the door.

"Catherine, assault at the Bellagio. Tourist couple got mad and started swinging."

Catherine grabbed the file and left.

"Sara, you're with Nick. DB at a gas station."

Nick reached for the file, but Sara snatched out of Grissom's hand first and spun around to leave without even a word to Nick. Nick followed her out and said as he was leaving that he was driving.

Greg and Grissom were the only two left in the room. Greg moved over towards his supervisor.

"So what are you and I tackling today? A couple of DBs found in a casino pool? A suspicious circ out in the desert?"

"Actually Greg, we are working the evidence from the Lawrence case a few months back. Some of the evidence was excluded at pre trial for procedural problems. But there was still enough to go to trial, but it doesn't look like enough to convict. We have to finish processing."

Greg was a little disappointed. He had been working in the lab for nearly his entire career and now that he was able to go out into the field, he much preferred that to lab work. But deep down he knew the any experience was good experience.

The night moved quickly and Greg was able to keep his work until about half through his shift, when a familiar brunette head came into his peripheral view.

"Would you believe it, 5 minutes after we get there, the gas station attendant cops to the killing. Something about the guy trying to steal gas from the pump."

"Nice for you," Greg answered Sara without looking up from the piece of evidence he was processing at the moment.

"Thanks, What are you working on?"

"Lawrence case. The work of lawyers make our lives more difficult," Grissom added as he walked into the room, "I take the DB was solved quickly."

"Yeah, attendant confessed, so we headed back. Nick's in the break room looking for Greg's secret stash to make a fresh pot."

Greg's eyes widened.

"I better go help him look before he tears the place inside out."

And with that, Greg rushed out of the room with Sarah right behind him. Greg was making a beeline for the break room when Sara caught up with him and pulled him into an empty evidence examination room and shut the door.

"I thought you said Nick was looking for my secret stash. I need to stop him."

"I lied. He is in there sleeping on the couch."

"Then why the story?"

"I talked to Warrick before he headed out to Henderson. He agreed to traded days with me. But only if I told him why I needed the day off."

"What did you tell him?" Greg said, concerned.

"I told him the truth. I had a date. But don't worry it, I didn't tell him who with and that seemed to satisfy him. But you might get some questions from Nick. He kept giving me strange looks and muttering something about how I looked like I was glowing."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"No problem. So when did you want to do this dinner and movie?"

"How about I pick you up around 6. I'll make reservations and then we can catch a flick down on the Strip."

"I'll be ready with bells on."

"Great."

The two of them exited the room and went back to the exam room and to the break room. But neither noticed a very confused Catherine standing in the hallway, holding a forgotten bag of evidence in her hand.

The week had blown by quickly and before Greg knew it, Thursday was upon him. The week had been fairly uneventful. But Greg had noticed some strange looks from Catherine whenever he and Sara were in the same room. He didn't think much of it until he saw her pulled Sara aside during a break on Tuesday. He had called Sara later that night to get an explanation.

"Sara?"

"Hey Greg, just calling to make sure I'm still on for Thursday?"

"No, I was actually wondering what Catherine said to you today during break. You know she's been giving me odd looks all week whenever you are around."

"Funny you should say that because she asked me whether you and I had a thing going on. She saw us coming out of the exam room together the other day."

"Are you serious? What did you tell her?"

"I told her that I was given you some help on the Lawrence evidence. You were unsure as to how to process a certain piece of evidence."

"And she bought that?" Greg asked, not believing that Catherine would buy something like that.

"I think so, but we should probably be more careful at work. It might be easy to fool one CSI but five CSI, no way."

"So I probably shouldn't pull you in the utility closet for a makeout session then."

"Probably not."

"Okay then. Good to know."

"Goodnight, Greg."

"Night, Sara."

And now, he was in his bathroom shaving and putting the finishing touches on his hair before heading out to pick up Sara. He had made reservations at Antonio's, an Italian restaurant just off the Strip. Not Spago, but definitely not the diner either. And for such an occasion, gone were the obscure t-shirts and cargo pants. Instead, he was wearing pressed khakis and a blue stripe button down shirt. But he still wore his beat up sneakers. After one final mirror check, he punched in his security code and locked the front door.

About fifteen minutes later, he was knocking on Sara's door. She answered the door in an outfit she would never wear to work. She was wearing a little black dress that stopped just above the knees. It clung in all the right places without looking trashy. Her hair had been pulled up and she had applied a natural makeup look. And on her feet were a pair of strappy stiletto sandals.

"Hey, I thought that shoes like that were murder on a girl's feet," Greg said, pointing to Sara's feet.

"They may be, but they make my legs look nice," she responded, kicking her leg back for emphasis.

They certainly do," Greg said, staring at Sara's legs.

"And might add that I love your choice of shoe wear," Sara said, gesturing at Greg's sneakers.

"Hey, nothing's too good for you, my dear. Your chariot awaits."

He held out his arm and Sara took it and walked out to Greg's car. Greg opened the passenger door for Sara and then got in on the driver's side and turned the car on.

"…And I don't want ya, and I don't need ya. Don't bother to resist or I'll beat ya…"

Greg panicked and started punching random buttons and somehow managed to get the radio stuck on a Spanish speaking station. Sara watched the whole thing and tried rather unsuccessfully to contain her laughter.

"You know Greg I think that Marilyn Manson was better."

"Well, if you reach under my seat, there should be a folder of CDs. Take your pick."

Sara rummaged around and procured a black leather notebook and started flipping through the pages. A small smile came across Sara's face as she selected a CD and popped it into the player.

"…I'm genie in a bottle.."

"Greg, I never took you for a Christina fan."

"Relic from my youth."

"Oh I see," Sarah said with a smile, "You don't find her attractive or anything?"

"Nah, you know I'm more of a Britney fan."

By that time, they had arrived at Antonio's. Sara let a small excited yelp. Apparently, Greg had done something right.

"I love Antonio's. This is the best Italian food in Vegas. It reminds so much of this little place in San Francisco called Toscanini's. I would eat there at least 4 times a month. I can't believe you picked this place."

"Well I'm glad I did. I've never seen you get that excited unless we are nailing a suspect."

"I take joy in the simple things."

Greg laughed at her comment and they parked and headed towards the entrance. Greg headed towards the hostess table. The young lady nodded and gestured for them to follow her into the seating area. They navigated through the tables until the arrived a cozy little booth towards the back. Greg and Sara sat down and opened their menus. A few minutes later, their waiter came by and they ordered a bottle of wine and an appetizer. When the bottle of shiraz arrived, they were ready to order.

"I'll have the penne with artichokes and mushrooms. Caesar salad, please," Sara said to the waiter.

"And I'll have Lasagna Florentine. Garden salad with vinaigrette on the side," Greg said in turn.

The waiter left and Sara turned to Greg.

"I thought you would order something from the dark side."

"I'm unpredictable," he said with a smile.

"That's why I like you."

"You mean it's not my devilish good looks?"

"Now you're sounding like Nick."

"Wow, 15 minutes into the date and you're already insulting me."

"I'm a fast mover."

Greg leaned in and Sara did so, but as they inched closer, an ill-timed server arrived with their calamari. The two separated as the dish was placed on the table. They ate in awkward silence. The kind that you heard at a junior high dance. After the plate was cleared, Greg asked Sara about the latest case she was working on. For the remainder of the time before the entrees came, they talked about what seemed like the only comfortable topic: work. Their food arrived and Sara and Greg dug into heartily.

"You know, I've never tried artichoke before," Greg said, eyeing Sara's food.

"Greg, would you like a bite of my pasta?" Sara replied.

"Yes, please."

Sara took a bit of her food and placed it on Greg's plate.

"Would you like a bite of mine?" he asked gesturing to his food.

"If you don't mind."

Greg sectioned off a piece of lasagna and placed it on Sara's plate. They both partook of the samplings.

"This good. The spinach is really fresh and you can taste that," Sarah said as she looked to see a sick Greg.

He spit the food out into his napkin. He grabbed his wine glass and took a big swig.

"That's disgusting. I now know why I'd never tried artichoke before. Nasty."

"Sorry Greg. I really thought you would like it."

"Well you were wrong."

They had a good laugh about and the evening finally loosened up. They swapped college stories over coffee and dessert. Greg learned that Sara had been a member of a scientific fraternity, and Sara learned that Greg had only made it 3 days through Hell week. He drew the line at swallowing a live goldfish. 'Tradition my ass', were his exact words. Greg had just finished paying the check when a beeping noise started to emanate from Sara's purse. Moments later, Greg's pocket started to beep.

"Grissom. Must be serious to beep both of us on a day off," Sara said as they headed for the door.

Greg called Grissom first and found out it was a FOS, Friend of the Sheriff. It was all hands on deck. Sarah then called and got the same response.

"Greg, drop me off at home, so I can pick up my kit and take my car. The two of us showing up together looking like this is going to raise too many questions. Unless you want provide answers."

"No thank you. I'll drop you off and follow you to the scene. I guess we will need to rain check the movie. Unless you don't want to go out again."

"Now why would you think that."

Sara gave Greg a quick peck on the cheek. Greg blushed and Sara could tell that he was really having a good time. And so was she. More than expected. I guess she always thought a date with Greg would be weird and maybe a little kinky. But this was perfectly normal and Sara was looking forward to more.

They arrived at Sara's house and she popped in and returned with her silver case and hopped into her car. She took off towards the crime scene and Greg followed suit. Somehow, Greg knew that showing up in separate cars wasn't going to stop the questions. Greg started to formulate a plan. He picked up his phone to give Sara a heads up on his plan of action. She agreed and they headed off to face the crime scene.

TBC


End file.
